statistic:
When organizations successfully engage their customers and their employees, they experience a 240% boost in performance-related business outcomes compared with an organization with neither engaged employees nor engaged customers. (p. 55)
The next time you gaze at a full moon, remember you are seeing only the side that is visible. As school leaders, we cannot always show others the full perspective we have of our school, but it is still our responsibility to attempt to try to show others as much of that perspective as possible. Can you imagine what kind of experience students, teachers, staff, and parents could have if they were fully engaged with the vision, mission, and goals of your school? This kind of engagement is only possible when leaders commit to a comprehensive approach to leadership and communication. Messaging must involve words, images, and digital tools, but it can’t only include these things. Messaging must also enhance, celebrate, and support the strong practices of a school dedicated to achieving positive outcomes. Entire school communities can’t reach these outcomes together if members do not engage with the message.
Now It’s Your Turn
• When was the last time you reflected on the mission and vision of your school?
• What goals are you moving toward where you see positive momentum building? How can you encourage messaging around those achievements and goals?
• What steps are you taking to communicate high expectations?
• What steps can you take to increase your own engagement and that of your teachers and school community?
• Think about a classroom activity, student, or teacher who is modeling the main goals of your school. How can you share that story with your teachers, parents, and community?
Build a Foundation for Effective Communication
After spending eleven years in the classroom, nine years as an assistant principal, and four years as a high school principal, I have many varied experiences to reflect on when considering my career in education. When I think about my years teaching, I don’t have a lot of regret about my curriculum decisions, although I always had room for improvement. And I don’t feel regret for the duties or responsibilities I have managed in school administration, although I always have room for improvement there too. During reflection, any regret I feel almost always centers on times when differing perspectives caused conflict, misunderstanding, disagreement, or letdowns.
For example, when I was a classroom teacher, I once had a parent conference with a mother who told me that her son came home upset when I refused to give him credit for a test question he said he had marked correctly. When he brought the test to me, it appeared he had erased and rewritten the answer after I had passed back the test. I told him I couldn’t give him credit at that point because it was too late for me to know whether he had corrected it after I passed it back or I had marked it incorrectly. His mother expressed that my assumption that the student had practiced academic dishonesty was crushing for him; he had great respect for me, and it hurt him that I did not trust him.
Now when I reflect on the situation, I can see both sides. This mother was not aware of my experiences in the classroom of observing students attempting to hide notes under their desks during assessments, or others who tried to share copies of tests with classmates via their mobile phones. I had gone over the answers with students after passing back the test because it is good instructional practice. I was a young teacher, however, and didn’t think about asking students to put away their writing utensils while we reviewed their answers.
At the time, I’m sure I didn’t think about how to address the situation with the student without seeming dismissive. It was likely a twenty-second interaction with a student that frankly I never thought about afterward until the mother brought it up. She explained it to me very politely—not because she wanted her son’s points corrected but because she wanted me to know how much my opinion had mattered to him. When I think back to that situation now, twenty years later, I don’t regret that I made a judgment call with the best information I had at the time. But I do regret that I was unaware of how powerful a twenty-second interaction could be with a student. The good news is that I took the mother’s story to heart so that I became more mindful in my interactions with students. The bad news is that I may have made the same mistake a thousand times and not even noticed it.
What if we flip this scenario on its head? What if the power of positive interactions multiplied over and over again can create a momentum of strong culture in our schools? If you are making a commitment to better messaging with your students, teachers, and community, you must begin by understanding the characteristics necessary to positively engage school communities in order to see a more positive school culture taking shape. An integral component of such a culture is developing a foundation for effective communication in the following ways.
Be Trustworthy
This should go without saying, but in order for your messages to be trusted sources of communication, you must be trustworthy. No amount of planning, preparing, communicating, or accountability will be effective if you have not earned the trust of those who are listening to your messages. Building trust starts with building strong relationships, and it continues with reliable, consistent follow-through. When you’ve taken time to invest in relationships and given others the best information available, people are more forgiving. This is especially true when you can’t show them both sides of the moon; many situations in school require privacy or confidentiality.
Begin by Listening
You can learn a lot by just listening. Taking time to listen and reflect with staff, students, and parents will strengthen your understanding of their perspectives. You will discover areas in which people need direction, guidance, or clarity and can answer their questions and better understand their interests. Schedule time to meet and listen, or collect feedback using surveys (such as the online platform SurveyMonkey, www.surveymonkey.com).
Listen for the Story Behind the Story
It would be difficult to find a school leader who has not heard teachers, students, and parents share their frustrations from time to time. When people share, they often make statements that include words like always and never. Even though people might seem to be simply venting with these statements, they often contain some important elements of truth. For example, it is easy to become offended when a teacher says, “We are asked to do too much with absolutely no support.” Or a student might say, “My teacher always grades us unfairly.” When you accept that such universal statements are common when people are frustrated, you can begin to listen for the story behind the story. What the student speaking about grades may really be saying, for example, is, “What I really want is for my teacher to recognize the value of my hard work, dedication, and commitment.” By listening for the deeper meanings, leaders go to the other side of that person’s moon to understand the messages he or she is communicating and what response or follow-up those messages require.
Don’t Allow Misunderstanding to Keep You From Communicating
This may be one of the toughest lessons in leadership and in life. We all want others to understand and respect us. Others may never have access to the information you understand or the context in which you operate as they discuss issues with you.
For instance, a teacher who has asked to meet with you about a concern may have no idea that you just dealt with an intense situation involving bullying and harassment. You may have spent the previous thirty minutes calming an upset parent or finishing the forty-eighth page of your accreditation report. But you do not always have the luxury of explaining context when someone needs a moment to interact with you. Because others deserve our respect and attention, we cannot
